Michael Praed is one the most well-known contemporary artists. He is a prolific painter, working mainly in oils and pastel and drawing his inspiration from the Cornish countryside and its people. His style is an intriguing and sometimes disturbing combination of realism and abstraction. He portrays the beauty of the Cornish landscape and seascape with a sense of unease - almost with menace - in a way that no other artist has achieved. The farmsteads of Penwith huddle together against an unseen enemy in a landscape devoid of lliving things. Deserted breakwaters curve pincer-like into an empty sea. Engine houses rise from the ground like megaliths, half as old as time itself.

Born in 1941, Michael Praed was educated at Penzance and Falmouth School of Art followed by Brighton College of Art. He is a member of the Newlyn and Penwith Societies of Artists. He has exhibited widely and in 1993 retired from teaching, to paint full-time. His work has had a permanent place at the Round House for several years.